This is part 1 of a series of cleaning your system registry to increase computer speed. This is just a quick introduction to the system registry and how to back it up.

Slow computer performance can be the result of poorly uninstalled programs. Even if you used the Add or Remove Programs feature in Windows, some programs may still leave behind their settings in your system registry. The system registry is a database that stores settings for Windows and the various programs installed on your system. Increase computer speed by finding unneeded settings in your registry and clean them up.

The system registry is not something that is recommended to be edited manually if you are a novice user. One wrong change could make your computer worse. If you will be working on your registry manually, it is strongly recommended to make a backup of it before you make any changes. To make a backup of your registry, follow these steps:

Click the Start button then choose the Run… option.

Type in regedit then click OK.

You should now see the Registry Editor window.

Click on File, then choose Export from the menu.

Type in a filename, such as registry-backup.

Choose All from the Selected Range option.

Choose a folder where you would like this backup to be saved, then click Save.

You should now have a saved .reg file as a backup in case any changes that are made to the registry result in adverse effects.

Since manual editing of the registry is not recommended unless you know what you are doing, part 2 of this series will highlight some registry cleaner software products that can help you remove unnecessary registry entries to increase computer speed.

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This is just a quick introduction of  ways to increase computer speed. Each topic will be covered in more depth in future postings. If your computer runs slow and you want to speed it up, here are a few simple things you can try.

Delete any unnecessary files and programs from your hard drive. If your hard drive is full, it will be slower in accessing data since there is a lot more information that it needs to sift through to find the exact data that is needed at the time. Running Disk Cleanup, removing old files and uninstalling rarely used programs can not only help free up extra disk space, but help your hard drive find the data quicker, which will make your PC seem faster.

Going along the lines with cleaning up your hard drive of unneeded files, another tip for how to speed up computer performance is by checking your hard drive for errors and disk fragmentation. Since this is just an overview, this topic will be covered in more detail later. Basically, if your hard drive is full of errors or is severely defragmented, this can slow down the operation of your PC. You can increase computer speed slightly by running the error checking and defragmentation tools available in Windows.

The next way to try to optimize your PC performance is to make sure it’s free of viruses, spyware, trojans, and other malware. Viruses and malware can severely slow down your PC, so be sure to download, install, and scan your computer with some antivirus and malware removal software.

While trying to uninstall unused software, you may find that some programs will leave behind some junk files. If you know the location that the program was installed in, you can remove these files manually. Some programs will also leave behind changes in your system registry. The registry is the database of settings that your computer uses to run the operating system and any programs that you have installed. Extraneous registry settings can cause your computer to slow down. It is not recommended and can result in doing more damage to manually edit the registry yourself. You can clean up unnecessary registry settings by using a registry cleaner program.

That is a quick overview of ways to increase computer speed. Look forward to future posts as we go into more detail covering the various methods of speeding up your PC, and reviews of registry cleaners, antivirus, antispyware, and more tools to help keep your PC optimized for fast performance.

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